Dear Parents/Carers,

This week has been extremely busy but positive week with on-going roof works, some staff sickness (NOT Covid), using the village hall (well done Year 2), Parent's Evening (lovely to see people in school) and everything else in between. Our focus on Friendship as part of a national 'anti-bullying' week has been very positive (see attached photos of the array of socks on show !). Fancy dress day today in support of Children In Need was excellent with a wide range of costumes.

The weather has been kind allowing the roof works to really get going.

1. Comet's Meadow update

- Mrs Crowther has secured a grant of £3000 towards the project. This means we can purchase storage for the £1000 of equipment we have had donated by a local company.

- Madley Charities are securing the water being established and paying for installation.

- We have various promises of labour, materials, expertise and time to set the garden/areas up.

We will press the accelerator and really get going in the spring term........

2. Parking/walking bus

Parking issues - it seems to be a bit better. Could we ask that people do not park across drives or on the white lines outside of houses (we have a number of repeat offenders and I have the registration numbers).

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT BREAKFAST CLUB/MASC PARENTS SHOULD NOT USE THE CAR PARK WHILST THE ROOF WORKS ARE TAKING PLACE.

Walking bus - this is a great asset and it is lovely to see the children enjoying a walk to school together. It is free, helps with parking and traffic around school and is run by volunteers and parents. It leaves from the Tennis Club/Park car park at 8:40 am and can be used everyday or when you need it. Thank you to the volunteers who make it all work.

3. Playground marquee

We have had a good response and some very generous parents stepping forward to help. Anyone else who may be able to assist we would welcome more. It may be that we hire a marquee with a view to raising the money to purchase it.

Benefits

- no more wet breaks.

- extra indoor/outdoor space for PE.

- space for events for the PTA and school.

- outdoor/indoor space for Madley After School Club/holiday club.

- covered space in the winter/sun shade in the summer (we still have the field/small woods/tipi/Exploration Garden as a range of outdoor/indoor spaces).

There are lots more benefits that I think of every time I think of the space......

4. Hamper PTA event -

News to follow on Monday but a donation in return for non-uniform next Friday. PTA events are limited at the moment so we need everyone's support to make events a success as they benefit every child.

5. Staff protocols

All staff at Madley (teaching and non teaching) have protocols set and professional expectations. School staff have the right to use social media like everyone else but they are much more guarded and aware. Please respect the standards that are set and not request staff to be 'friends' on Facebook or any other platform unless they are a personal friend (even then we have strict protocols and expectations of our staff concerning confidentiality, professional standards and our school values). Thank you for your awareness, respect and understanding.

6. Attendance/Covid

Overall = 97.4 % (Years 1,2 and 5 had 99.7%)

We have no confirmed Covid case this week (one PCR test being undertaken)

Covid nationally - last week the age group with the biggest rate of infection was in children aged 5 to 9. Thankfully serious illness (and even symptoms) are often rare. Not to scare anyone but just to raise awareness.

Next steps -

If we are Covid free then we can mix again at breaktimes/lunchtimes, open up more opportunities for all of the children and reinstate some sharing events we haven't done for nearly two years. We need your help to stay Covid free by being aware, making sensible decisions about what you do, testing regularly and getting tested if you have any symptoms.

Every bit helps......... (and then some luck as well !).

Have a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Mr Batstone